REVIEW: Ronhill Stride Windspeed Jacket

By: Matt Setlack

This review will outline what I like and what I feel could be improved with the Ronhill Stride Windspeed Jacket. I have also photos of where in the world I have worn this jacket. I have been wearing various iterations and colours of this particular jacket for 3 to 4 years. I have easily run hundreds if not thousands of kilometres in this jacket and am very well acquainted with it.

Description

The jacket is made of a lightweight material that is quite breathable. There is a small zippered pocket on the upper left hand side. The blue/grey jacket shown below has two reflective stripes on the front and one reflective stripe on the back. Previous versions of this jacket, like the lime green one that I have, also had one reflective stripe on the outside of each wrist. The reflective stripes are nice to have because at least half of my run commutes are in the dark and this helps motorists see me better.

Regarding visibility, there is a small black circular rubber disk in the central back area (see photo above right) that stays secured in place inside a circular metal grommet. This black disk can be replaced by a red light disk that is the same size, and blinks. The exact same disk is found on the Ronhill backpacks such as the Ronhill Commuter Xero 10L + 5L vest backpack, which I wrote a review about here.

A feature that I really like is the soft black fabric around the neck area and also a strip of soft black fabric in your chin/front of neck area. I have never had any issues with chafing at all in this jacket. It is really comfortable. There is also a little hoop of fabric in the back that is used to hang up the jacket.

The zipper on this jacket works exceptionally well. There have never been any issues with snagging or catching the zipper in fabric. I typically start my run commute wearing this jacket and then take it off (while running) once I warm up after about 10 minutes. As shown in the photo below, there is a narrow strip of black material just behind the zipper, which helps to make the zipper slide very easily. The strip of material behind the zipper also prevents drafts from getting through.

The zipper pulls are nice and small (but still large enough to use even with running mitts on). They snap down in place and do not flip/flop up and down when you run, which is great.

The wrists are simple and effective. A section of the wrist is elasticized and I find the wrist opening to be perfect even while wearing a GPS watch or while wearing thicker fleece running mitts in the winter. The wrist material is cut in a way so that the outside of the wrist is slightly longer than the inside of the wrist.

The back of the jacket is longer than the front of the jacket. The blue/grey jacket shown below has elasticized sections on each side of the waist. Previous versions of this jacket had a thin bungee cord that ran along the inside bottom perimeter of the jacket.

The black rubber disk is shown in the back centre.

What I Like

1. Simplicity of Design - It is a really good, simple, functional design that has undergone minimal change, which I like.

2. Lightweight - it packs up really small and is so lightweight that I can carry it in one hand even for long runs of 30 km or more.

3. Breathable - the material is wind resistant and water resistant, which to me is preferable over a jacket that is waterproof and therefore less breathable.

What I Feel Could be Improved

There is one zippered pocket in this jacket. The nice thing about this pocket being zippered is that you can pack the jacket up into this pocket and then zipper it shut. You can also put a map, keys, credit card, gels, etc in this pocket and nothing will fall out.

The upper end of the zipper has a sheath of fabric that covers the zipper pull (see photo below). This sheath prevents water from entering the pocket when the pocket is zippered up and it is raining.

There is also a fabric sheath on the bottom of the pocket but the length of this fabric sheath is too long. As shown in the photo below, the zipper pull is completely submerged beneath the fabric sheath. When this happens, it is a little annoying to fish the zipper pull out with your fingers. I suggest that the zipper sheath on the bottom of the pocket be shortened.

The photo below shows the Ronhill Stride Windspeed jackets that I own from oldest on the left (lime green) to newest on the right (lighter blue). As you can see, the black circular rubber disk in the back centre of the jacket has gradually moved up as the various iterations of this jacket have been released. The oldest version is the lime green one on the left and the newest version is the light blue/turquoise one on the far right.

I personally feel that this was not a good decision and there are two reasons. First, while sitting/driving in my car before and after a run while wearing this jacket, the black disk is uncomfortable when I lean back into the seat because it gets right in between my spine and the car’s seat. When the black disk was lower down on the back like in the lime green jacket, the disk would fit in the “small of my back” and I would not notice it while driving. When the black disk is removed, the discomfort goes away.

Secondly, when I am wearing my Ronhill Commuter Xero 10L + 5L vest pack on the run commute to and from work everyday, the black disk is right in between my spine and the Ronhill backpack, making it uncomfortable. In addition, the black disk is so high in the lighter blue jacket that the backpack covers up the disk. If I did have a red blinking light in place of the black disk, the light would be completely obscured by my Ronhill backpack.

In terms of the reflective stripes, I like that the newer jackets (lighter blue, on the right) have a reflective stripe in the lower back of the jacket. This location makes the reflective stripe still visible while wearing a Ronhill backpack. The reflective stripes on the older lime green and darker blue jackets were obscured when wearing a backpack.

The older lime green jacket had reflective stripes on the outside of each wrist. I liked the location of these stripes because it made me more visible to motorists from the side (laterally). The wrist reflective stripes are no longer on the newer darker blue and lighter blue jackets.

Places I have Worn this Jacket

Kananaskis 100 Mile Relay Race (K100)

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Philadelphia Half Marathon in Nov 2017 - you might recognize that arched bridge because it was in one of the Rocky movies.

Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA

This was just before the Hams and Hamstrings 5k at 7,000 feet ASL in Colorado Springs in Apr 2017. It is the perfect warm-up jacket. I placed 2nd in that race. 1st place was local resident (and world mountain running 2016 champion), Joe Gray.

Pikes Peak, Colorado, USA

Running above 14,000 feet ASL.

Bulgaria

This was what I brought on my way up Masala Peak, the highest peak in Bulgaria. I ran up this peak after the World Mountain Running Championships in 2016.

Cold Lake, Alberta, Canada

This was when my wife, Emily and I ran across Cold Lake and back in January. For a post about it, click here. The lake is massive; about 25km across and nearly 100m deep.

On my daily run commute to and from work all year around.

Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

It was more than a little cold. I believe the temperature was around -30C. Cold Lake is farther north than Edmonton and it gets noticeably colder there.

Mount Charleston, Nevada, USA

Port d’Envalira, Andorra

Running above 2,400m ASL.

Font Romeu, France

At the National Altitude Training Centre. Font Romeu feels a lot like Flagstaff, Arizona, USA.

Conclusion

Overall, the Ronhill Stride Windspeed Jacket is the best running jacket I have ever worn in my life. I have worn various versions of this jacket for thousands of kilometres and am very impressed with it. If you have any questions or would like more information about it, please feel free to contact me via the “Contact” link at the top right of this page.

Thanks for reading!

REVIEW: Ronhill Infinity Torrent Jacket

By: Matt Setlack

This review will focus on what I like about the Ronhill Infinity Torrent jacket and what I feel could be improved. I have included as many photos as possible in this review (taken by myself) as I feel a photo is worth a thousand words. For an overall description, please visit the www.ronhill.com website by clicking the photo below. Note that the current colour (charcoal/fluo yellow) is different than the jacket that I have (blue and red) This review will focus on my person observations after running in this jacket for 3-4 months.

Initial Impressions

The very first thing I thought about when I pulled this jacket out of the package was how incredibly lightweight it is. I measured it to be 195g, which is even lighter than the Ronhill Momentum Victory Hoodie. I really like the vibrant blue and red colour of this jacket and I love the simple, elegant and functional design. To me, excellent design is when there is nothing left to remove but the garment still fulfills everything that it was designed for. Simple is good. Simple means lightweight. Simple means easy to use because there is no complicated mechanisms. 

Fit 

The fit of the Ronhill Infinity Torrent jacket is a little bit looser in the torso than the Ronhill Windlite jacket. The length of the arms feels the same. I wear a size medium in this jacket and the sizing is consistent with other Ronhill garments I have worn in size medium.

What I Really Like about this Jacket

Front Main Zipper

The zipper works really well and seems very durable. There is a flap of material behind the zipper which eliminates the possibility that wind (or rain) will blow through the front of the jacket. The zipper itself is also waterproof so you have two layers of protection. 

#RunEveryDay Logo

I really like how Ronhill has printed "#RunEveryDay" on the inside of centre back of the jacket. This is a great reminder for me and also shows that Ronhill is with the times. 

Waist Cinch Cords

One each side at the bottom of the jacket are places where you can tightened up the waist cinch bungee cord with one hand. They are easy and intuitive to use.

Excellent Worksmanship

As you can see in all of these photos that I took, the level of care that was put into manufacturing this jacket is very impressive. It is very high quality and there is not a stitch out of place.

Hood

The size of the hood is perfect for me and there are also two different adjustments that you can make. One adjustment is done via two red bungee cords in the front of the jacket. These two cords cinch down the front opening of the hood (where you look out of).

The second adjustment is via a red cord loop on the back of the head. By pulling this red cord loop, the hood beak is brought closer over the top of your head (similar action to tightening up the back of a baseball cap). They work really well and make running with the hood up very comfortable. 

When you don't have the hood over your head, you can easily cinch it up by putting a flap of material over the bunched up hood, which will prevent the hood from flapping up and down as you run. Ronhill has done a phenomenal job of making this "hood strap down system" exceptionally intuitive to use (really well done, Ronhill!). The very first time I wore this jacket in the rain, I wanted to strap down the hood. Somehow, without ever seeing the system, I managed to figure the system out within seconds while running and not even being able to see what I was doing because everything was going on behind my neck! Incredible!

All you have to do is roll or bunch up the hood behind your neck, then open the fabric "strap/trapezoid" (as shown in photo below). Take the black rectangle of velcro on the bottom of the trapezoid and stick it to the blue rectangle of velcro on the outside back of the jacket. That's it! It works perfectly, is very secure and lightweight. 

Black Face Rub Rectangles

Really nice touch by Ronhill. When you zip the front zipper all the way up to the top, there is a nice soft black cloth material that your face/mouth can rub against, if necessary. This is really comfortable. My face does not rub against the jacket at all when it is zipped all the way up. 

Cuffs

I like the simplicity of the cuffs. There's nothing complicated about them. I like that only half the cuff is elasticized, which allows you to easily pull the cuff over your GPS watch to start/stop/check the time and/or pace. 

Aqualite is the material used to manufacture the jacket. The tags that come with the jacket reads, "Key benefits: Total waterproof and windproof barrier" and I would agree.

Packable Size

It packs up to about the size of a water bottle, which is a bit larger than the packed up Ronhill Windlite jacket. It is very easy and convenient to carry if you want to take it off while running if it stops raining. The weight is only 195g as well, which is less than half a pound. 

What Could be Improved with this Jacket

Red Bungee Cords in front for tightening up the front part of hood

As it is now, one red cord on the left and one red cord on the right hang out the front side of the jacket (see photo below). When you are running, they have a tendency to bounce/faff/jostle about, which I find a little annoying. It would be much nicer if these red bungee cords were routed INSIDE the front of the jacket rather than OUTSIDE the front of the jacket.

Breathability

If you make a jacket that is waterproof/water resistant, then it will not be very breathable (i.e. allows water vapour to escape from the inside). If you make a jacket that is very breathable, then it will not be waterproof/wear resistant. PERIOD. A lot of companies have tried and they claim that they have manufactured a jacket that is BOTH waterproof AND breathable but I have not worn any jackets yet that do both of these things extremely well. It is not a fault of Ronhill (or any other clothing manufacturing company for that matter), it is simply a characteristic of the material. It is kind of like using all season tires all year around rather than summer tires in the summer and winter tires in the winter. The all season tires will work okay all year around but will not be particularly good or bad in any season. However, to be fair, Ronhill has done a better job than any other company I know in creating a jacket that is waterproof while being fairly breathable.

A possible solution to this issue could be to maybe add arm-pit zips (although this would add weight) to the jacket. And if you're wearing a jacket in the rain, then you would not want openings in the arm pits for rain to come in and get you wet. Perhaps a small panel material that is thinner and breathable could be placed in the arm pit area. 

Zipper Pulls

I personally prefer the small YKK zipper pulls that Ronhill uses on almost all of their other garments; the mini-flip lock kind rather than the long string/cord pulls that this jacket has. The zipper pulls on the Ronhill Infinity Torrent jacket have a tendency to flip up and down when you run and I personally don't really like this. This is a really minor annoyance though. 

Conclusion

Overall, I am very impressed with the Ronhill Infinity Torrent Jacket. If you do a lot of running in the rain, I would recommend that you consider this jacket. Ronhill products can be purchased at Running Room.